Your Biggest Food Woes & How to Fix Them

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The cures: Proper cooking methods, starches, seaweed and spices

If preparing beans from scratch, it's been said that soaking them is the best way to remove many of the indigestible sugars they contain. It also cuts down on cooking time. Make sure you pick out any debris and rinse the beans before soaking.

Another piece of advice is to serve your beans with easily digestible sources of resistant starch, such as rice or quinoa. You can also employ the Asian method of adding seaweed to the pot of beans while cooking, as it makes the beans even softer.

And for those who like to spice things up, add digestive-boosting spices to your bean dish, such as turmeric, ginger, fennel coriander and cardamom. If you're unaccustomed to eating beans, start with small quantities until you slowly build up your tolerance.